Method and means for tube making



July 16, 1935- s. sMm-I Q METHOD AND MEANS FOR TUBE MAKING 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jul 13, 1954v July 16, 1935- SN-SM ITH k I METHOD AND MEANS: FOR TUBE MAKING Filed July 13, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Ill aw. i-lii i 0 x I AN MN I Q M J m 9w m My mw Q \M M m .Q N \aw WW kn Patented July 16, 1935 PATENT. OFFICE 2,008,600 ME'rnon AND MEANS ron runs MAKING Sydney Smith, London, England, assignor to Wellman Seaver Rolling Mill Company Limited, London, England Application July 13, 1934, Serial No.

In Great Britain August 1, 193

' 10 Claims.

This invention relates to a method of and apparatus for the manufacture of metal tubes and tubular articles and hollow bodies, hereinafter referred to as tubular articles, of iron, steel or non-ferrous metals and to apparatus therefor.-

Themethod is of the kind in which a billet is delivered to a container disposed opposite to the front end of the mandrel of a push bench drawing apparatus, the mandrel is advanced to pierce the billet and cause'it to form a closed ended bottle in the container and is then further advanced to push it through the drawing means to form the bottle into a tubular article on the mandrel. Hydraulic apparatus has heretofore been employed to advance the mandrel and its gentle movement effects a satisfactory piercing of the billet. It has now been found that by effecting the further advance'of the mandrel through the drawing means by other apparatus, such as electrical apparatus a more rapid movement can be obtained which not only conserves the heat in the metal but also produces a more satisfactory article and at the same time reduces the cost of production.

According to the present invention in a method of manufacturing tubular articles in which a heated billet is delivered to a container disposed opposite to the front end of the mandrel of a push bench drawing apparatus and the mandrel is advanced first to pierce the billet and cause it to form a closed ended bottle in the container, and then to push it through the drawing means to form the'bottle into a tubular article on the mandrel, the first advance of the mandrel is effected by means of hydraulic apparatus and the second advance to push it through the drawing means by other apparatus, such as electrical apparatus.

The invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 shows in plan push bench apparatus in which the bottle is pushed through a series of dies by which it is drawn into a tube,

Fig. 2 a side elevation to a larger scale of the container,

above the tubularguide 2 and is connected to the mandrel by a depending member, the guide 2 being slotted as shown at I to permit the passage of said depending member. The rack is driven on the underside by a pinion 8a mounted on the shaft 8 and disposed under the bridge 9 which 5 counteracts upward thrust. The shaft 8 is driven through the gearbox ill from the electric motor I I. The motor I I is connected by a chain or belt "l2 to hydraulic pumping apparatus l3 which supplies fluid under pressure to the air hydraulic accumulator l4. Pressure fluid is delivered from said accumulator through the pipe l5 and valve connection l6 to the main hydraulic cylinder 20 and through the branch pipe ll to the hydraulic cylinder It. The piston of said cylinder I8 is arranged in tandem with the larger piston IQ of the main hydraulic cylinder 20. The piston l9 engages, as indicated at 2| the end of the rack 5 when the latter is in the withdrawn position. 22 are the die rings mounted on the-die ring bed at the front of the machine.

Between the end of the guide 2 and the die ring bed is the container 23 for a billet. It is spaced sufliciently in front of the guide 2 to permit a billet to be introduced into said space where there is a support or billet hopper 23a. The container 23 is internally of horizontal cylin-- cal shape with a hole at the rear end opposite t e mandrel.

The container is divided horizontally, the 30 upper part 24 being supported in the housing 25 and the lower part 26 being supported on a wedge 21. A replaceable lining 28, also in two parts, is provided in the container to allow for difierent sized billets. The lower part of the container is 35 connected to the wedge by tongues on the latter. The wedge is connected by pin and slot connec tions 29 to links 30 pivoted at their ends at 3| on the housing and at their other ends attached to cross heads 32 which are operated by hydraulic 40 cylinders 33 and 34. A link, cross head and pair .of cylinders are arranged at each side of the container. The large cylinders 34 are employed for moving the wedge to open the container and the smaller cylinders for moving it in the opposite direction to close the container. The wedge 21 moves on a sloping way on the bottom part 35 of ,the housing. 33 is a solid circular guide ringfor the mandrel at the front of the container. It is held in place by a plate 31. The end of the container is closed by a closure member in two parts 38 and 39. These are arranged to move sideways on ways 40. Each part is attached to a lever It pivoted at 42 on the housing and attached at its upper end to a cross head 43 which is 2 I aooaeoo I connected to a plunger 44 of the hydraulic cylinder 45. At its lower end each lever is connected to a cross head 46 which is attached to the plunger 41 of an hydraulic cylinder 48. The two plungers 41 at the bottom are arranged in opposition in the common cylinder 48 and the two plungers 44 are arranged in opposition in the common cylinder 45: When pressure fluid is admitted to the cylinder 45 the plungers 44 are moved outwards and so the levers 4| are moved to bring the two closure parts 38 and 39 together to close the end of the container. When it is desired to -open the container pressure fluid is admitted to the lower cylinder 48 which causes the closure parts to open. The inner face of the closure is cupped as indicated at 49 opposite the mandrel.

The die ring bed, container 23 and hydraulic cylinders i 8 and 20 are connected by tie rods 50.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows The mandrel 3 is in the withdrawn position as indicatedin Fig. 1 with the guide ring 36 at its front end.

A heated billet 5| which is preferably of. square section with chamfered corners is delivered on to the support 23a in front of the mandrel and at the back of the container. Operating fluid isthen admitted to the hydraulic cylinder l8 whereby the mandrel is moved forward and pushes the billet into the container 23, carrying with it the guide ring 36 by reason of the slight friction between the mandrel and said ring. At this stage the parts 38 and 39 of the closure member are in position closing the back of the container but the lower half of the container is lowered away from the upper half. The container is then closed by admitting operating fluid to the cylinders 33 and so moving the wedge member 21 up its way. The divided container enables a good cross-corner grip on a rough billet to be obtained despite slight variations in size which may occur in diiferent billets as they come from the blooming mill. Thus it enables billets to be dealt with which may not-be too accurately rolled thereby assisting in cheapening the product. Operating fluid is then admitted to the second and larger hydraulic cylinder 20 whereby the mandrel is forced into the billet in the container to within an inch or two of its far end. This operation causes the billet to fill the container and take the cylindrical shape thereof with a cup-shaped end as is indicated at 52 in Fig. l. mitted to the cylinder 48 and the parts 38 and 39 of the closure of the container are opened. The wedge 21 is also withdrawn so as to drop the lower half of the container. ,When the container has been thus opened the electric motor II is started and the rack is moved forward to drive the mandrel with the bottle 52 on its end through out re-heating the pierced billet or bottle and con--.

siderable saving in handling of the material is effected.

The steps of operating the several driving motors in turn may be controlled by a single operating handle.

Operating fluid is then ad- Instead of withdrawing the mandrel the guide for the latter may be made to open and. a new mandrel placed therein for the production of a subsequent tubular article. In such a case the mandrel is not attached to the driving rack.

What I claim is:--

1. Method of manufacturing tubular articles, comprising delivering a. heated billet to a container disposed opposite to the front end of the mandrel of a push-bench drawing apparatus, first by advancing the mandrel gently but powerfully by hydraulic means to cause it to pierce the billet and form therefrom a closed-ended bottle in the container, and secondly advancing the mandrel more rapidly by other means such as electrical driving means to push it through the drawing apparatus and to form the bottle into a tubular article on the said mandrel.

2. Apparatus for the manufacture of tubular articles, comprising a mandrel, a container for a billet disposed in front of the mandrel, drawing means in front of the container and coaxial with the mandrel, hydraulic mandrel-driving means adapted for effecting a first gentle butpowerful advance of the mandrel to pierce the billet in the container, and other mandrel-driving means adapted for effecting a second more rapid advance of the mandrel to push the pierced billet through the drawing means. Y

3. Apparatus for the manufacture of tubular articles, comprising a mandrel, a container for a billet disposed in front of the mandrel, drawing means in front of the container and coaxial with the mandrel, hydraulic mandrel-driving means adapted for eifecting. a flrst gentle but powerful advance of the mandrel to pierce the billet in the container, and other electrical mandrel driving means adapted for effecting a second more rapid advance of the mandrel to push the pierced billet through the drawing means.

4. Apparatus for the manufacture of tubular articles, comprising a mandrel, driving means for the said mandrel, a billet-container divided horizontally into parts and disposed in front of the said mandrel, a wedge-shaped member carrying a'lower part of the said billet-container, a sloping way upon which the wedge-shaped member is supported, operating means for moving the said wedge-shaped member up and down the sloping way to carry the aforesaid lower part towards and away from an upper part of the billet-container, and drawing means located in front of the said container and coaxially with the mandrel.

5. Apparatus for the manufacture of tubular articles, comprising a mandrel, driving means for the said mandrel, a billet-container divided horizontally into parts and disposed in front of the said mandrel, a wedge-shaped member can'ying a lower part of the said billet-container, a sloping way upon which the wedge-shaped member is supported, a link connected to the said wedgeshaped member, an hydraulic cylinder containing a piston, an operative connection such as a crosshead between the said piston and member, whereby the latter may be moved by the former to carry the aforesaid lower part towards and away from an upper part of the billet-container, and drawing means located in front of the said container and coaxially with the mandrel.

6. Apparatus for the manufacture of tubular articles, comprising a mandrel, driving means for the said mandrel, a billet-container disposed in front of the said mandrel, a closure in two parts for the rear end of the said container, two links one connected to cue closure-part and the other to the other closure-part, hydraulic cylinders containing pistons, operative connections such as cross-heads between the said pistons and links, whereby the latter may be moved by the former to operate the closure-parts, and drawing means located in front of the said container and coaxially with the mandrel.

7. Apparatus for the manufacture of tubular articles, comprising a mandrel, driving means for the said mandrel, a billet-container disposed in front of the said mandrel, a closure in two parts for the rear end of the said container, two links one connected to one closure-part and the other to the other closure-part, a common hydraulic cylinder, pistons arranged in opposition in the said cylinder, operative connections such as crossheads between the said pistons and links, whereby the latter may be moved by the former to operate the closure-parts, and drawing means located in front of the said container and coaxially with the mandrel.

8. Apparatus for the manufacture of tubular articles, comprising a mandrel, driving means for the said mandrel, a billet-container disposed in front of the said mandrel, a closure in two parts for the rear end of the said container, two levers of the first order each connected to one of theclosure-parts, hydraulic motors operatively connected to the one pair of ends of the said I levers, hydraulic motors operatively connected to the other pair of ends of the said levers, and drawing means located in front of the said container and coaxially with the mandrel.

9. Apparatus for the manufacture of tubular articles comprising a mandrel, a longitudinally divided billet-container disposed in front of said mandrel, means for opening the said container at its longitudinal division, drawing means in front of the container and coaxial with the mandrel, hydraulic mandrel-driving means adapted for effecting a first gentle but powerful advance of the mandrel to pierce the billet in the container, and other mandrel-driving means adapted for effecting a second more rapid advance of the mandrel to push the pierced billet through the drawing means.

10. Apparatus for the manufacture of tubular articles comprising a mandrel, a longitudinally divided billet-container disposed in front of said mandrel, means for opening the said container- 

